Administration city in Amaravati to be ready by 2018

VIJAYAWADA: Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the administrative capital, one of the navaratnas in Amaravati, will be ready by late 2018. He said that the report on international consultants (architects) as well as the one on proposed infrastructure in the new capital will be out shortly.

Addressing district collectors at a conference here on Monday, the CM hinted that this would be the last meeting at a private hotel. He said that a temporary assembly would be arranged if need be. “Infrastructure is imperative for the government to function properly. At present I am camping in this region but have to go to Hyderabad soon for the winter session beginning from December 17. That is why if necessary, we will arrange a temporary assembly,” he said.

Announcing the growth rate of the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal, he said that the state has done well in agriculture sector. “While the Q1 growth rate was 9.72 per cent, 13.94 per cent was achieved during Q2,” he said. But Naidu quickly added that even though the sector as a whole did well at 47.1 per cent, farming is still in a bad shape. “As we concentrated on allied activities like fisheries and livestock which had 119 per cent and 28.3 per cent growth rates respectively, we were able to achieve a good rate of growth overall. But agriculture growth is still negative,” he said.

Commending the departments for doing better, the CM said that the half-yearly growth rate (an average of Q1, Q2) stood at 11.77 per cent as against the target of 10.62. “While the rate of growth of the country for Q2 was 7.4 per cent we stood at 11.77 per cent. The country’s half-yearly growth rate also stood at only 7.2 per cent far behind our average,” he said.

Naidu said that there was a need to up the game further as the remaining two quarters constitute 60 per cent of the annual target. “We need to brace ourselves to perform well. Our target is to ensure the state figures among the top three in the country by 2020, ranks first by 2029 and one of the best in the world by 2050,” he stressed.

To achieve the target he called for greater focus on agriculture and its allied sectors. “To get inclusive growth, we need our primary occupation to perform well as 60 per cent of the population depends on it,” he said.

The CM said that for prosperity of the state it is not just enough to generate revenue. “The welfare of people should be our priority. We are the first state to come up with schemes like loan redemption for farmers,” he said.

The next round of loan redemption will be held in January or February, he said. He added that they were able to save crops spread over eight lakh acres in the state by interlinking Krishna and Godavari rivers. “This mean we were able to help the farmers cultivate crops worth Rs 2,400 crore because of the interlinking. We are even focussing on the recharging of groundwater levels across the state,” he said.

He even told the collectors of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari districts to be cautious as drinking water scarcity would occur in the three districts. He told them to take remedial measures from now itself.